Tottenham v Blackpool

• Hit F5 or the auto-refresh button for the latest news • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Get all the latest scores from around Europe 33 min An outstanding cross from Bale, spanked low across the face of the goal from the left corner of the area, just evades Van der Vaart and Defoe before zipping away for a goal kick. That’s the sort of cross Gary Lineker fantasised about 25/8. 33 min “Tom Huddlestone is one of a select band of players who’ve played for a club with whom he’s shared his initials,” says Niall Mullen. “Mick Channon and William Wright are the only other ones I know. Anyone else?” If only Fergie had signed Matthew Upson, eh. Eh. 32 min Southern, who is putting himself about with a fair bit of zest, muscles Pavlyuchenko off the ball with disdain to start another Blackpool attack. 30 min “I’m also rooting for Blackpool in this one,” says Jamie. “I spent many a happy year sloping round the Golden Mile, usually handing out casual violence. I remember once, I saw a guy leaning against a wall in a manner which suggested he needed to be punched in a better direction. So I did. Annoyingly, he never thanked me. Hopefully he realises I was only doing it for his own good.” 28 min Spurs aren’t on their game at all. As Chris Waddle says on ESPN, playing Van der Vaart wide right doesn’t really work, and at the moment Blackpool are having much more of the game than we might have expected. 27 min “That Danny Rose goal’s so good it should be on Broadway,” says Dennis Johns, and you know what’s coming here don’t you. “Can you imagine it? Broadway! Danny Rose!” 26 min I’ve just remembered that Van der Vaart is playing in this match. He controls Modric’s excellent reverse pass before sweeping a right-footed shot straight at Gilks from the edge of the box. 24 min Gomes makes an outstanding save from Adam. Kornilenko’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Gallas, and the ball looped across the box to Adam, who hit a beautiful low volley towards the far corner. Gomes plunged to his left to save. From the resulting corner, Kornilenko headed over from eight yards. He should have scored. 23 min “I’m rooting for Blackpool in this one,” says Phil Sawyer, ” despite having spent my teenage years sloping round the Golden Mile, where casual violence was never very far away. I remember once, while leaning against a wall waiting for a taxi, a passing gent punched me in the jaw without even breaking his stride. I was upset at the time, but now I realise that that kindly soul was merely trying to give me a physical demonstration of what life had in store for me.” 21 min Eardley is rightly booked for a cynical foul on Rose. 20 min “If one player – Christopher Samba – played for Blackpool instead of Blackburn, I reckon that Blackpool would be up now and Blackburn down,” says Gary Naylor. “Makes the big guy’s wages look like value.” Yeah, Mark Hughes doesn’t get enough credit for that signing. What was it, £500,000? 18 min Modric’s 25-yard shot takes a deflection off a defender and spins just wide of the far post with Gilks motionless. A goal is coming. 17 min Spurs, though nowhere near their best, are starting to dominate. Bale’s cross finds Defoe in far too much space on the penalty spot, but his first touch is a little heavy and that allows Evatt to charge out and block his shot. 16 min Pavlyuchenko’s dummy allows Defoe to race towards goal from the edge of the centre circle, but Baptiste shows excellent pace and strength to first keep up with him and then usher him away from goal. Excellent defending. 13 min Rose, scorer of that amazing goal against Arsenal last season , wins a corner on the left. It eventually finds its way to Bale on the right wing. He comes infield and drives a low, bobbling 20-yard shot towards the near post that Gilks pushes away with both hands. 12 min Apart from the ever excellent Modric, who is pinging crossfield passes left and right, Spurs have been pretty sluggish thus far. 10 min “Come on, surely the genuine neutral would rather have Spurs win today, and pip Man City’s Evil Empire for fourth, even if does mean Wee Blackpool go down?” says Ryan Dunne.. “The latter are indeed a very entertaining side, but this is in part because they can’t defend, and invariably get rogered by decent strikers. Arguably not much of a credit to the league!” That’s cold, man. They’ve still won as many away games as the league leaders, which is pretty impressive. 8 min Dawson gives away a silly free kick, 25 yards from goal. It’s to the right of centre, which makes it perfect for the left of Charlie Adam. But in fact it’s taken by the right-footed Eardley, who whips it into the wall. 7 min Dawson makes a smooth interception, strides forward and thrashes a 30-yard shot that spins off the sliding Vaughan and just over the bar. That was lovely play. 5 min Spurs finally get some meaningful possession after four minutes of watching Blackpool pass the ball around. Modric drills a beautiful crossfield pass to Kaboul, who spanks his cross out of play for a goal kick. 3 min Blackpool have started nicely, with much more of the ball than Spurs. Adam plays a smart one-two in midfield and then feeds the ball wide to Crainey, whose cross comes to nothing. 2 min “Dear Jesus,” says Kimberley Taylor. “Please don’t let Blackpool go down. The end.” As the kids say, this. 1 min Blackpool, in tangerine, kick off from left to right. Spurs are in white. In fact it’s Danny Rose rather than Gareth Bale who is playing at left-back for them. Team news Tottenham (4-4-2) Gomes; Kaboul, Gallas, Dawson, Rose; Van der Vaart, Modric, Sandro, Bale; Pavlyuchenko, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Jenas, Crouch, Bassong, Kranjcar, Corluka. Blackpool (4-3-3) Gilks; Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Crainey; Southern, Vaughan, Adam; Kornilenko, Campbell, Taylor-Fletcher. Subs: Kingson, Ormerod, Cathcart, Phillips, Puncheon, Reid, Beattie. Referee Lee Probert (Wiltshire) There have been 118 goals in Blackpool’s Premier League matches this season, which puts them top of that particular league . As with the infectious Luton side of 1982-83 , and of course the heroic Foggia team of 1991-92 , they have decided to enjoy their first season in the top flight and sod the consequences. It’s such an admirable approach and most of us will hope that, as with Luton in 1982-83, they find a way to avoid relegation. If they do so by getting a result at Old Trafford on the last day, Ian Holloway’s celebration would surely be a neat companion to David Pleat’s giddy dance around Manchester 28 years ago . Preamble Hello. This is a fixture tinged with a wee bit of sadness. Tottenham and Blackpool are arguably the most fearless, attacking and likeable sides in the Premier League, yet modern football is no country for dreamers, and both teams are struggling to achieve their targets for the season. Spurs need snookers to reach the Champions League, and now find themselves under extreme pressure from Liverpool for a Europa League place, while Blackpool have dropped into the relegation zone after Wigan drew at Aston Villa. Both sides have extremely tough fixtures to come, so they could really do with picking up points today. Spurs play Manchester City and Liverpool away in the next eight days, while Blackpool go to Old Trafford on the last day of the season. They have stopped the rot to some extent with consecutive draws against Newcastle and Stoke, but have still won only one of their last 15 league games. That was a 3-1 victory over Spurs at the end of February, a match that started a dismal run of one victory in 11 for Tottenham. Both teams are desperate for three points today, which, coupled with their nature, means only one thing: a 0-0 draw attack, attack, attack attack attack. Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Blackpool Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.